Inflation continues to plague every corner of the world and even the most savvy investors are struggling to keep their heads above water. Fortunately, there’s a way for savvy individuals to make a little bit of extra cash while keeping their precious assets intact – by taking on freelance writing jobs.
Writing is an excellent skill to have, whether you’re a professional journalist or an aspiring novelist. But what if you want to make money from home? There are quite a few lucrative freelance writing gigs available, but you have to know where to look. Continue reading to discover how to make money writing online.
The Best Places to Find Freelance Writing Jobs
As the saying goes, ‘location, location, location’. You’ll never make money if you can’t be in the right place at the right time. When it comes to freelance writing, the location is always global—you can sell your services to anyone, anywhere in the world!
There are various platforms designed for budding freelancers, such as Upwork, Freelancer, and LinkedIn. All of these platforms have thousands of jobs available and the competition is fierce. If you want to be seen as an expert in your field, you’ll need to stand out from the crowd. How? By putting in the hard work. These platforms have numerous quality control checks and brand safety measures in place to ensure that only the best writers can secure freelance writing jobs.
The best place to find these jobs is through established writing agencies. While it is perfectly acceptable to sell your services directly to a client, many reputable agencies will try to avoid this route as it can be more work than what is usually entailed in a single assignment. Having a middleman is always preferable and helps ensure that all parties are satisfied with the final product.
How to Make Money Writing Online – The Ultimate Guide to Freelance Writing
Let’s get down to brass tacks – how to make money writing online. You might be wondering where to start. Well, here’s your lucky break – we’re going to walk you through the entire process so that when you click ‘submit’ you can say, “Hey, someone’s actually done all the work for me”.
Let’s get started.
Find The Right Niche
Niche is a word used to describe a “small market or segment” within the large market for a product or service. For example, “gym wear for women” is a niche within the general category of “fitness”. When you write on a niche topic, you are narrowing your target audience and tailoring your content to appeal to a smaller market. This often results in higher click-through rates and more conversions – think about all the SEO juice that comes with being “the go-to source for [niche topic] information”!
The great thing about niches is that you can very much be an expert in one area and have enough knowledge to cover a variety of topics in your niche. For example, if you’re an expert in the field of nutrition, you might want to consider writing about weight loss or healthy eating. Alternatively, if you have a background in business, you might want to consider writing about entrepreneurship for a living. The choice is entirely up to you. And the best part is that you can very much specialize in one area without having to “fit” all your knowledge into a single narrative.
Understand How To Market Your Work
Market research is the process of gathering data about your ideal audience so that you can tailor your content to appeal to them. There are various tools that do this automatically for you, such as Google’s Keyword Planner and Market Samurai. However, you have to know how to use them and what to look out for. For example, if you’re writing for the U.S. market, you’ll need to focus on the English speaking audience—American, Canadian, and U.K. writers especially. If you live in the U.S., you can also consider focusing on mobile users, as well as being featured on social media channels like Twitter.
Learn How To Structure A Winning Proposal
A proposal is an outline of the structure and the key points of a business plan. It is usually a short section at the beginning of a business document—such as a business plan, marketing plan, or whitepaper—that sets the scene, explains the problem, and presents the proposed solution. When pitching to potential investors or business partners, a proposal should match the objective of the proposal – whether you’re pitching to find funding, build a rapport, or secure a contract.
A good proposal should have a strong opening with a hook—something that will make the reader interested in what you’re about to say. Once the reader is interested, they’ll be engaged in your content, and more often than not, that’s when you achieve your goal, whatever it may be.
Learn How To Write Compelling News Stories
If you’re looking to break into the industry, you’ll need to consider what makes for a compelling news story. Why should someone care about your story? Is there some sort of authoritative figure behind the story? If so, who is it and why should anyone listen? What is the most important element of a news story?
News agencies are responsible for discovering and sending the “breaking news” that shape the events of our time—they are the people who report on politics, international affairs, finance, and business. To write for a top news agency, you will need to have a strong command of the English language and knowledge of current affairs. You’ll also need to have a keen interest in the news as it relates to your area of expertise. For example, if you’re an expert on finance, you might want to consider pitching stories about corporate takeovers, leveraged buyouts, and equity investments.
The More You Know, The More You Will Succeed
Knowledge is power, and it’s a powerful thing to have. However, far too often, we hear about people who have all the knowledge in their area of expertise and yet, still can’t seem to make ends meet. The reason? They didn’t have enough knowledge about marketing, sales, or how to structure a business proposal.
If you want to succeed as a freelancer, you’ll need to become an expert in all areas of copywriting, editing, and proofreading. In addition, you’ll want to make sure that you are using the right platforms and resources to find freelance work, monitor your income, and grow your business. With determination and a little bit of luck, you’ll be able to build a lucrative career as a freelance writer.